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On Party School List, UF Is No. 1 With A Beer

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By ADAM EMERSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 29, 2008

The University of Florida can add another national honor to the NCAA titles it has collected in the past couple of years.

But this one won't make the promotional literature.

The state's flagship university was named the nation's best party school in the Princeton Review's annual guide, The Best 368 Colleges, which goes on sale today.

While it has been on the top 20 party school list for the past 15 years, the new edition of the college guide marks the first time UF has hit No. 1.

"We're taking it in stride, but let's be frank, it's not our favorite thing," UF spokesman Steve Orlando said Monday.

The Princeton Review surveyed 120,000 students to rate schools in 62 categories. The party ranking is based on the use of alcohol and drugs at a school, the number of hours spent studying out of class and the popularity of fraternities and sororities.

Greek life contributes a lot to the party scene at UF, said Caitlyn Oser, a 2007 Bloomingdale High School graduate and sophomore at UF. Students also spent 2006 and 2007 celebrating back-to-back men's basketball championships and an NCAA football title.

"We know how to have a good time," Oser said. "But we're a top school academically. I think a lot of our students can manage both."

The Gainesville school also scored No. 1 in the Students Study the Least and Students Pack the Stadiums categories, based on the number of hours spent studying per day and on the popularity of its intercollegiate sports, respectively.

It also makes appearances in other categories, including Lots of Beer (No. 7), Dorms Like Dungeons (No. 10) and Major Frat and Sorority Scene (No. 10).

The only other Florida college to make the party list was Florida State University, which climbed eight spots from last year to No. 10. FSU stayed off the list in the 2006 and 2007 editions.

The University of South Florida appeared in none of the Princeton Review's Top 20 rankings.

Other Florida schools were honored in several categories, however. Some examples:

•Reefer Madness (high marijuana usage), New College of Florida, No. 5

•Most politically active students, New College of Florida, No. 4

•Students study the least, University of Central Florida, No. 14

•Lots of Hard Liquor, FSU, No. 13

•Is It Food? (campus food gets low ratings), Flagler College in St. Augustine, No. 13

•Election? What Election? (least politically active), Florida Southern College in Lakeland, No. 11

At least UF can rest comfortably in the popularity of its sports. Its ranking in Jock Schools is just shy of No. 1.

The Dodgeball Targets: They're at New College, which earned the top spot in that category.

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285 or aemerson@tampatrib.com.

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